SPEC Kit 336: Responsible Conduct of Research Training · 73
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Citation Management Tools
http://guides.library.upenn.edu/citationmgmt
Overview -Citation Management Tools -Guides at Penn Libraries
http://guides.library.upenn.edu/citationmgmt[8/16/13 5:58:15 PM]
Overview RefWorks Zotero Mendeley EndNote
About citation managers
A citation manager helps you keep track of articles and books as you find them, tag and annotate them, and easily
create citations and bibliographies in Microsoft Word. Using any citation manager will be more efficient for most
scholars than not using one at all. Each manager has its own plug-in for Microsoft Word and some also have
browser plug-ins for easy capture of web links. Each manager also has built-in connections to Google Scholar and
common library reference databases. Each manager has options for group-based collaborative research.
We offer four main choices to you in this guide: Refworks, Zotero, Mendeley and Endnote.
Refworks, the most popular choice on campus, is provided by Penn Libraries for the Penn community (including
alumnae). It is a stable, well-established platform, but has limitations in terms of working with PDF files.
Endnote, the oldest of the four, works well for the health sciences and for large collections of articles, despite some
technical and installation issues.
Zotero is an open-source software program that is notable for its ease of use, its ability to grab screenshots, and its
capabilities for archiving website content for local storage.
Mendeley, the newest option of the four, is a cloud-based proprietary system that includes Facebook-style social
networking, PDF annotation, a platform for self-promotion and crowd-sourcing of citations and annotations.
Mendeley has a wide range of functionality but suffers from performance and accuracy issues.
We recommend that you explore a variety of citation managers, consulting with library staff as needed, before
choosing one. We can provide guidance on best practices and share our experiences.
Full Comparison of Citation Software
Thanks to Mat Willmott at MIT Libraries for creating the template for this chart.
RefWorks Zotero Mendeley EndNote
Link to web guides Quick-Start Guides Documentation Support Technical Support &
Services
Type Web-based Desktop software and
browser add-on for
Firefox, Chrome, and
Safari
Desktop software and
web-based. Works
with IE, Firefox,
Chrome and Safari
Desktop client
software also has web
interface, EndNote
Web
Cost Free via Penn license.
Sign up for an
individual account on
the RefWorks
website. (Penn only)
Free with 100 MB of
back-up storage.
Storage upgrades
available for a monthly
fee. Open source.
Download Zotero
Free with 1GB of web
space (500 MB
personal &500 MB
shared.) Storage
upgrades available for
a monthly fee.
Download Mendeley
Must purchase client
software, available at
Penn Computer
Connection.
Learning curve Fairly quick to learn
many online user
guides and demos
Quick to learn simple
design, many online
user guides and
demos
Quick to learn. Pretty
simple interface
Takes longer to learn,
but not difficult with
training
Strengths? Allows users to
share citations
Good for
organizing citations
for papers
Web-based
Since Penn has a
site license, there's
no cost
Available to Penn
alumni as long as
Penn maintains its
subscription
Simple download of
records
Good for managing
a variety of formats,
including webpages
Offers most
functionality in a
free, open-source
product
Downloads records
from with several
databases that
don't work with
Great for managing
PDFs
Has a social aspect.
Can see what other
users are reading
and citing. Find
other members with
common research
interests.
Does an excellent
job of pulling
citation metadata
from PDFs
Excellent for
organizing citations
for papers and
theses
Best option for
major research
projects, because it
offers the most
options for
customization and
formatting
Most output styles
for formatting
Upcoming workshops
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